My college junior daughter finished a relatively uneventful week in Fort Lauderdale with habitat for humanity - (we encourage her ... ). I say uneventful but, the usual college kid stuff occurred - someone got sun poisoned then drunk and violated curfew. As a group leader my daughter was stressed as there was a hospital visit.

It was about 10AM on Saturday and I was happy when I heard they were on their way back to school. The the first text came in
1PM "The bus broke down".
3PM "we are in the middle of the highway - they won't let us off the bus - it's hot. Three kids passed out"
5PM "Bus started and limped into gas station - died again"
Some time later... In hourly snippets...
Waiting on mechanic
Driver bailed
Will take several hour to fix - if it can be done
Some Kids booked flights home
1:55AM Sunday Morning we are on our way
Mid day Sunday: "my ankles are swollen... I am worried about blood clots" our pitiful suggestion: move around elevate you feet
9PM we are back....

7:23AM Today...."small improvement in my legs"

She wants to spend her senior fall semester in Australia? I'm thinking
1AM crocodile attached bus
2 AM have you heard of the funnel web spider??

Are you planning to be financially independent as early as possible so you can live life on your own terms? Discuss successful investing strategies, asset allocation models, tax strategies and other related topics in our online forum community. Our members range from young folks just starting their journey to financial independence, military retirees and even multimillionaires. No matter where you fit in you'll find that Early-Retirement.org is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with our members, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create a retirement blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

People go to Australia, and come back all the time. Here are some tips, although I have never been there.

Stay out of inland water, there are Crocs
Stay out of the ocean, there are Sharks
Stay out of places where snakes hide
Do not go inland on a walk-about, you can get lost and never be found.

I've been pretty much all over Australia.......those are some good tips......plus there are also crocs in the ocean, and stonefish, and jellyfish, and snakes, and and.........land snakes don't always hide, spiders are everywhere, and even a P.O'd roo can eviscerate you...but I'm still around...50 years after I last set foot there.

We spent several years, off and on, in Australia. We loved the people, the experience, and the different outlook on the world - different, not better or worse. As one TV commentator said "America and Australia, two countries divided by a common language." As has also been said about Canada and the UK.

Australia has more poisonous living things than any other continent, all out to afflict those pesky mammals walking around. More than one poisonous spider, poisonous snakes, 3 poisonous jellyfish (some beaches will have signs "no swimming, box jellyfish"). Cone snails, crown of thorns starfish, stonefish, cane toads. They even have a poisonous octopus! And then there are the salt water crocs who lay in wait for their prey and can jump 2/3rds of their length out of the water. And those hungry crocs are protected by law. They are NOT the same as American alligators.

It also has The Great Barrier Reef. Miles of sugar cane fields. Beaches closed when sharks are prowling offshore. Surfing. Lots and lots of beer. Lots and lots of jokes. Great people.

Driving cross-country is an exercise in planning and survival strategies - those who think they know it all are at risk of never making it to the other coast.

Amazing that there's anybody alive over there, eh?

Australians in general are self-reliant, adventurous, pretty aware of their surroundings. They get a big kick out of the hapless American tourist who hasn't a clue what's what. But no worry, mate, keep them on the Gold Coast where they can spend their money and not worry anybody.

If your daughter has the good sense to seek advice and listen to the natives, she'll be fine. If she's afraid, risk-aversive, she just might hate the place.

Really, for the most part Australia takes care of their tourists, though occasionally they forget just how much Americans don't know what they don't know - the fastest way to get into trouble there. City Aussies are as soft as city Americans, though.

I think that every American young person should spend a few months in Australia - it's modern Western civilization with enough twists in the environment to keep someone on their toes. It can be a wonderful learning experience on so many levels.

Reading material: The Fatal Shore by Robert Hughes - I sincerely believe it's a must read before going there. If you subscribe to "The Economist" magazine, do a search on Australia.

My first reaction: you have a great relationship with your daughter that she keeps you so up-to-the-minute informed. Bravo to both of you.
Oh yeah, don't worry about Australia -- i.e., above normal parent worries.

Mid day Sunday: "my ankles are swollen... I am worried about blood clots" our pitiful suggestion: move around elevate you feet
9PM we are back....

7:23AM Today...."small improvement in my legs"

She's pretty young to be worried about blood clots, but since it's a worry, be sure she takes an aspirin or two before flying, drink lots of water, and move around. The aspirin is important as it is a convenient over-the-counter blood thinner profilaxis.

I have some nieces and nephews this age and I call their texts "brain dumps"...or, if I didn't text it..it didn't happen...this blurring the lines between talking/texting/thinking is part of the reason people text while driving. To the OP what was the purpose of these hour by hour updates? It's not like you could do a darn thing to help in that situation.

One of the nephew texting offenders is the one that mailed me a completely blank Thank You without even a signature on it..apparently because he can only communicate with people thru his smartphone.

DH called me from 1,000 miles away to tell me that the car wouldn't start. Sometimes I just don't want to answer his calls . I would probably tell my daughter to take a chill pill and let me know when something really happened if she was texting me stuff like that at her age, but she is pretty independent--we didn't hear much from her when she was in Australia before her senior year so OP's daughter should be just fine.

__________________“Would you like an adventure now, or would you like to have your tea first?” J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan

DH called me from 1,000 miles away to tell me that the car wouldn't start.

We have an old cell phone, that DW's daughter no longer used.....we take it to Europe, (in case we have to advise booked accommodation that we're running late, or somesuch), but don't bother around here, on the rationale that "What the *** are we gonna do about it anyway?"

Sounds like one of those great life experiences we all have. The ones where lots of stuff happens, nobody comes out harmed seriously, and your daughter got to learn a bit about how things can be managed well or poorly. It's great she was one of the group leaders. I suspect the next time she runs into challenges, she'll have a few new thoughts about how to handle them in ways she thinks will have the best results!

I think the texts from your D while she was stuck on the bus were frustrated venting texts. She needed to complain to someone, everyone with her on the bus was in the same situation and didn't want to hear it, so mom & dad on the other end of the line take the brunt of it. My DD's tend to send those kind of texts to me but not my husband, because I just let them vent and maybe offer some coping strategies, while daddy worries and wants to swoop in to save the day.

I've learned that my DH worries about his DDs (in their mid-20's) being out in the big bad world more than I do. I take into consideration that they are capable young women who will figure things out, just like I did, but DH seems to forget that and wants to protect his baby girls. It's funny sometimes. Not long ago, the youngest was using a knife to prepare some food and DH admonished her to "be careful, that's sharp". She reminded him that she is an RN who cares for critically ill patients immediately following heart surgery, and handles sharp things daily (potentially with life-or-death consequences). She can probably be trusted with a paring knife. 🙄

I don't hear the scarier stories until after they are resolved (having a wallet stolen while traveling and having to arrange for alternate identification, getting stuck in a real bad part of town after missing a subway stop, etc.). DH still hasn't heard some of those. I shudder to think about the escapades that the girls have had, that I don't know about!

DH called me from 1,000 miles away to tell me that the car wouldn't start. Sometimes I just don't want to answer his calls . I would probably tell my daughter to take a chill pill and let me know when something really happened if she was texting me stuff like that at her age.

+1

I don't have as much patience as I probably should, with this sort of thing. When I was that age, part of growing up was learning to deal with life's problems without having to call mommy and daddy constantly. Of course in my case, it helped that they were thousands of miles away and I couldn't afford a phone call.

At any rate, independence and initiative are qualities to be encouraged, as long as the situation is not too much for her to deal with on her own.

Latest Threads

Social Knowledge Community

About Us

This community was started in 2002 as an alternative to a then fee only Motley Fool. The focus of the discussions is on topics related to early retirement and financial independence. The community is moderated to ensure a pleasant experience for our members.